Edmonton, Alberta – Toward the end of the regular season, with the Edmonton Oilers slumping and questionable to make the playoffs, Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe angrily confronted a local television crew doing a story on the team’s plight. Some of Lowe’s moves were questioned, including the acquisition of goalie Dwayne Roloson, who wasn’t very good after coming over from the Minnesota Wild.

Wednesday at Rexall Place, Lowe sat at a podium and fielded reverent questions from the press. The Oilers’ fortunes have turned 180 degrees since early April, about the same number Lowe’s IQ seems to have risen.

Roloson, 35, has gone from looking like a washed-up former backup to a serious contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy. Sergei Samsonov, another late-season pickup, has been excellent, brilliantly setting up a goal in the Oilers’ 5-4 victory over Anaheim in Game 3 of the Western Conference finals. Lowe’s major offseason acquisition, defenseman Chris Pronger, is another Conn Smythe contender, having probably the best playoff showing of his career. Another offseason pickup, forward Michael Peca, is playing his best hockey of the season at the right time.

Life is good again for Lowe, who won six Stanley Cups as a player, and an Oilers organization that nearly folded because of financial burdens in the mid- to late 1990s. The salary cap has helped stabilize the franchise and has created a more level playing field on which Lowe can maneuver against other general managers. Gone are the days when small-market teams such as the Oilers weren’t much more than glorified farm teams for richer franchises, who could poach the best young players when their salary demands became too much to afford.

“I was in New York at the time in the mid ’90s when the team was going through what it was, the (financial) issues,” Lowe said. “It was really difficult for me. Even though I was in New York playing on a different team, it tugged on my heartstrings because of the possibility of the Oilers not being in Edmonton.

“And I was thinking at the time that I’m never going to have the opportunity perhaps to bring my kids, because they were young at the time, to Edmonton to see where I played and where we won some Cups. So I think that’s well behind us now, and I know my kids, who are a little older now, are enjoying this run like the next generation Oiler fans.”

Lowe, who played defense for the Oilers from 1979-92 and from 1996-98, deflects credit for the team’s first possible Stanley Cup Finals appearance since 1990. He credited his scouting staff for recognizing Roloson’s leadership skills that led to him pull the trigger on a deal.

“We gave up the fewest shots in the league on a per-game average, (and) some nights we just needed one more save,” Lowe said. “Rollie’s had the average and had the save percentage over the last number of years and had a little bit of experience. So we were just looking for an improvement.”

If the NHL were still without a salary cap, Lowe might have been smiling Wednesday and crying on the inside. In the old system, small-market teams that made a big playoff run usually lost their best players before long to bigger salary demands. Not anymore, which is why Lowe said he believes the good times can continue for a while in Edmonton.

“We’ve got a good idea what the market is for players that we want to retain and we know we feel – we know we can be in that market. That’s a good thing for the city,” he said.

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